Let’s support continental initiatives on adolescent reproductive health — OAFLA

First Ladies from Africa have called on the international community, UN agencies, the African Union Commission and other development partners to actively support continental initiatives on adolescent reproductive health systems.

They have also called on governments and national institutions to ensure the enforcement of laws and the domestication of international and regional instruments and legal frameworks that protect women and young people, including their sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

In a communiqué issued by the first ladies at the launch of the Adolescent All-In-One campaign in Accra, Ghana urged national, regional and continental entities to coordinate efforts that would lead to the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence and harmful practices.

Adolescent campaign

The first ladies, who are members of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA), attended the launch of the United Continental ‘All-in-One’ Adolescent Campaign in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, and pledged to accelerate advocacy and introduce sexual and reproductive health education that includes a module on gender and power dynamics in order to strengthen the capacities of adolescent girls.

This, according to them, will enable adolescents to make informed decisions about their own lives and to prevent abuse, early sex, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

The communiqué said the first ladies recognised that AIDS had become the leading cause of death among adolescents in Africa and the second leading cause of death among adolescents globally. They maintained that just one in four children and adolescents under the age of 15 had access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment.

Platform for action

The first ladies also committed themselves to promoting the All-In-One campaign as a platform for action for increasing the meaningful participation of adolescents in decision-making processes and strengthening youth-led social movements.

Additionally, they pledged to stop new HIV infections among young women and adolescent girls by championing the All-In-One campaign in their respective countries to ensure that AIDS would no longer be the leading cause of death among adolescents.

Key areas

The first ladies said they would focus on four key areas of engaging, mobilising and empowering adolescents as leaders and actors of social change; improving data collection to better inform programming; encouraging innovative approaches to reach adolescents with essential HIV services adapted to their needs; and placing issues of adolescent HIV firmly on political agenda to spur concrete action and mobilise resources.

Reaffirm commitment

The communiqué said the first ladies would continue to advocate gender equality and the empowerment of women and adolescent girls to exercise their reproductive rights including access to safe, voluntary family planning services and ensure access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in line with regional and global instruments.